Midnight conversations
by NightlyEvilTM
Summary: One shot. A Damon/Elena encounter in the middle of the night after she saved him from Bonnie in 2x02.


Damon cried out in excruciating pain as Bonnie watched him with hateful eyes. Before Elena could focus on what was happening, Bonnie had started a fire. She had set Damon on fire. The flames were burning him; he was screaming in pain and fear as he desperately swatted at his burning legs with his hands, trying unsuccessfully to smother the flames. Elena yelled at Bonnie to stop, but she didn't. Elena stared at Damon, horrified. He was going to die. She had to save him. She jumped over the fire and shook Bonnie to distract her, but her friend moved aside and she continued her spell, fuelling the flames higher. Elena was crying, desperate. She had to stop it. She had to save him! She knocked Bonnie to the ground, and with that the flames were extinguished. Elena turned around to look at Damon, but he wasn't there anymore. There were only ashes. He was dead. No…

Elena woke up with a gasp. It was just a nightmare. She had stopped Bonnie in time, Damon was alright. Elena took deep breaths to calm herself. Why was she having this nightmare? Why was she so terrified of the possibility of him dying? Damon was a monster; he had proven it the other night. He forced a kiss on her, and then killed her brother. And he didn't even flinch. And she hated him for that.

Why then? Why did she save him? Why did her dream make her shake in fear for his life?

Elena closed her eyes and sighed. She stood up and walked to the window to open it, hoping the cool fresh air would help her clear her mind. She noticed someone outside, partially hidden in the shadows. Her heart began pounding in fear - What if it was Katherine? She could just come into the house whenever she wanted, and kill them all… Elena started to panic, she was on the edge of tears, her breathing became heavier, and she started to step away from the window. She tried to find her cell to call Stefan, but before she could do anything, someone rushed into her room through the window.

Damon.

His presence made her feel safe. It had probably been him out there, and even if it wasn't, she relaxed significantly, and felt the fear-induced tension leave her body. Why she trusted him with her life, when she couldn't with the lives of the people she cared about, Elena didn't know. But somehow, she knew that he would do anything to protect her.

"What are you doing here, Damon?"

He looked at her and smirked. "I decided to spare you the panic attack. It was just little old me outside, Elena. Not the centuries old crazy bitch."

Elena couldn't hold back the sarcastic response.

"And how is that any better?"

"Ouch, Elena, I'm hurt. I'm not the one who stabbed your uncle slash biological father and went after your boyfriend."

"No, you are the one who killed my brother."

The bitterness in her eyes and her voice seemed to have shut off his sarcasm. Damon turned around to leave, but he stopped when he heard Elena's voice.

"Did you see the ring?"

He slowly turned around and looked her straight in the eyes.

"No."

Elena shivered. She had said the same thing, but in her heart, she had hoped she was wrong. And now that hope was gone.

"Why did you do it?"

"Does it matter? It won't make you hate me any less for what I did."

And he was right.

Damon started walking to the window again, but once again turned around and looked at Elena.

"Why did you stop her? Why didn't you just let her kill me and put an end to it? Why did you save me, after what I did?"

"Because she was blaming you for something that wasn't your fault, and because I knew that Bonnie would never be able to live with the fact that she killed someone. Even if it was you – the one person she hates more than anything."

Damon nodded, and prepared to leave, but Elena spoke again.

"And because… I don't want you dead, Damon."

Their gazes locked again. Even if it was dark, she could see his crystal blue eyes perfectly. She could see the pain and the guilt in them, even if Damon didn't want to show it.

"But why, Elena? I am the reason Vicky's dead, I turned your mother, I almost killed your witchy friend, I snapped your brother's neck without a second thought about it. Why would you want to save me? Why?"

"Because as much as I hate you for what you did – killing Jeremy, betraying me, breaking my trust, hurting me more than you can imagine… Despite that, I still care about you. And I probably won't stop, no matter what you do."

Damon opened his moth, trying to say something, but he decided against it. Instead, he just stared at her, obviously taken by surprise by what Elena just told him.

"I haven't forgiven you. I don't know when or if I ever will. I don't know if you deserve my forgiveness. But I know that I don't want to see you hurt. Not physically or emotionally. And I'm sorry if I hurt you, it wasn't intentional. But being hurt is not an excuse for what you did. I get that things are not always black and white; I know there is always a lot of gray too. But… Your actions can cause people to see only the black, Damon. And that's what you are doing. You want people to hate you, and you are succeeding. But their hate won't heal you."

Elena didn't know how all this came out, she just felt the urge to say it, to tell _him_. She had no idea how he'd react, what he'd do. She had no idea what to expect from him anymore. Yet, she did it, she said it.

Damon took a few steps and stood right in front of her, just inches separating them. He looked into her eyes, and then pressed the tiniest kiss on her forehead. He then leaned down to her ear and whispered, as Elena closed her eyes.

"Thank you. And…I'm sorry."

Elena opened her eyes to look at him. But he was gone.

She went to the window again and looked outside. He was once again in the shadows. She knew what he was doing – he was watching over the house, to make sure Katherine wouldn't come in the middle of the night. She looked in his direction, and a small, barely noticeable smile touched her lips.


End file.
